The Pursuit

The Kingdom of Heaven is like… - Part 3

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 | Kingdom of Heaven, Mustard Seed, Seed, parable | 2 Comments

The second parable given is the Parable of the Mustard Seed. This parable is smaller and easier to manage than the previous parable because it has fewer elements involved.

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.” - Matthew 13:31-32

Jesus is using similar terminology in this parable (compared to the previous parable). If this terminology can be compared on a 1:1 ratio the mustard seed would represent the sons of the kingdom, the man would represent the Son of Man, and the field would represent the world.

The fact that the Kingdom of Heaven (KoH) is compared to a smaller set of elements is evidence in favor of the view that the KoH is being represented by the seeds that the farmer is planting. This helps support Alan’s comments in the previous post concerning the Parable of the Tares. Which I now lean towards as the correct interpretation.

This parable is actually retold in Mark and Luke. They are almost identical except for one major point. Mark and Luke both say the Kingdom of God, rather than the Kingdom of Heaven.

And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.” - Mark 4:30-32

So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR NESTED IN ITS BRANCHES.” - Luke 13:18-19

This leads me to believe that the two phrases are somewhat synonymous. I have heard people say that the KoH represents one thing while the KoG represents another, but this does not allow the distinction to exist. The only argument that might be made is that Matthew uses the two phrases to represent different things. He uses KoG four times (Matthew 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, & 21:43). I do not think you can make a strong case that these are different from the uses in Mark, Luke, or his own uses of KoH.

Now, let me subtly turn the discussion to the “birds of the air.” This is quoted in the NASB as an Old Testament reference from Ezekiel 17:23, Psalms 104:12, Ezekiel 31:6, and Daniel 4:12. These OT verses seem to indicate that the birds being able to nest in this tree is a sign of greatness and power.

What do you think?

God Bless.

P.S. I wrote another blog about this parable, comparing it to the parable in Mark as a better solution to the “smallest seed” issue brought up by many skeptics. Check it out if you are interested.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like… - Part 2

Thursday, November 30th, 2006 | Kingdom of Heaven, Seed, Wheat and Tares, parable | 4 Comments

The first parable given is the Parable of the Tares (or the Parable of the Tares among the Wheat). This parable should be discussed first because it is the only “Kingdom of Heaven” (KoH) parable in Matthew that Jesus explains. This explanation can be used to understand the other KoH parables.

When I first read these parables I thought they were saying the KoH is like “a man” (or the Son of Man). However, I ran into some theological issue when looking at the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Costly Pearl. I will discuss these issue at a later time, but for now my interpretation of this is that the KoH is being compared to the whole scenario. In other words the KoH is compared to the set: the Son of Man, the sons of the kingdom, the world, the Devil, the sons of the evil one, the angels, and the furnace of fire. All these things combine are what the KoH is being compared to, not just the man.

However, this interpretation seems a little awkward. When I first think of Heaven neither this world nor the furnace of fire comes to mind. I think most Christian (and probably non-Christians) would agree. Another way to think about this is found in other gospel accounts. For instance, some of the same parables are used in Mark and Luke, the only real difference is that they say the Kingdom of God, rather than the Kingdom of Heaven. I will discuss the significance of this in my next blog. It is not such dangerous theology to call all of this the Kingdom of God, especially when we understand that Matthew probably used the word “Heaven” as a replacement word for God – remember he was writing to Jews and they did pretty much all they could to avoid using (i.e. taking in vain) God’s name. Matthew did use the phrase “Kingdom of God” four times in his gospel account. It may or may not be significant, but three of those times Jesus was speaking to Pharisees, Sadducees, and Priests and the other time he was speaking to his disciples.

The conclusion I have drawn from this parable is that the Kingdom of Heaven has been started by Jesus, there are sons of the kingdom (Christians) and sons of the Devil (the Lost) who live in this kingdom. When it is time to harvest the Christians, the Lost will be gathered up and thrown into “the furnace of fire” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The Christian will be gathered up and will “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

God Bless

P.S. I believe this parable has been used in the past as evidence for a post-tribulation rapture. It is not the intent of this entry to discuss the tribulation or the rapture, but I thought I should mention it. I personally lean towards a post-trib view, however, I am not sure I would use a parable to defend my position. Parables have a tendency to break down when they are stretched too far from their main point.